


Scattered Flowers

by Jodasgreat



Series: Yuuka's Flowers [1]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Childhood, Family Drama, Gen, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:06:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29498526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jodasgreat/pseuds/Jodasgreat
Summary: It was supposed to be the perfect life- a young couple settling down in the countryside and starting a family. That dream was doomed the moment they laid eyes on their newborn daughter. This is the story of a young demon, one whose name alone would one day bring fear to even the strongest of men.
Series: Yuuka's Flowers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166855
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	1. Budding

“As beautiful as always, isn’t it?”

Spring had come, and with it this forgotten valley was awash with the most vibrant flowers—a sight of unparalleled radiance and beauty. From atop this small hill, it seemed as if the modern world had melted away; not a trace of the busy city life shared by this couple every day for their whole lives. To them, there was only them, the mountain, and of course, the flowers.

“Just like you, dear.” The man reached his left hand around her shoulder, squeezing her closer. When she leaned into the embrace, he bent over to give her a small peck on the cheek before leaning away again.

The woman laughed. “Stop it! That sounds so cheesy!” She gave him a playful slap on the leg. “Seriously, I hope it’s not genetic!”

The man laughed too—his was louder and deeper, but filled with the same cheer and positivity as hers. “You know you love it.”

She laughed once more, this time a more brief, sensual laugh, and leaned her head on his shoulder. “You got me there.”

“And let me promise you something…” He said with a suddenly serious expression.

“What is it, dear?” her voice was still soft, but it might have wavered a little more than she had intended.

His stern expression, however, slipped quickly, replaced by a playful smile that shone with the brightness of the sun. “I promise to take every pain to make sure our daughter has the lamest sense of humor possible!” 

Shocked by the sudden shift in mood, she recoiled, slipping from his grasp. “How dare you, you—you evil creature! You’ll kill us all!” She attempted to make a disapproving face and moved her arms to shield her bulging abdomen. However, her voice could not hide her amusement.

“Some day we will rule the world!” He laughed his big, hearty laugh—that same laugh she had fallen in love with three years ago. The laugh that filled this small valley every Saturday afternoon since then, even the one last year, the one she had come to this hill in a new white dress.

She smiled, and leaned back in, facing out towards the blue shaded mountains that dominated the horizon. “And to think… I married you of all people.”

“You chose the right man! I bet your college boyfriend wouldn’t take over the world for you!”

“He wouldn’t cross the street for me, I don’t think that’s saying a lot.” Her face shriveled up at the thought of that man, but it was all in the past now. “But I don’t think anyone else would be able to take me here like you do.”

“Of course, my dear Kaori! This valley is my realm! My realm— _our_ realm—is top secret! Only the worthy can lay eyes on it, much less enter!”

“Yes, of course, but have you ever considered a better name than _Land of Fantasies_? I feel like I’m playing a videogame whenever we come here.”

“And what could be better!” He laughed before turning around to grab something from a bag that lay behind him.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Well, you know what day it is, right?” He answered her question with a question as he turned back around to face her, hiding whatever it was he grabbed behind his back.

“How could I forget? It’s our anniversary!”

He smiled and pulled the object in front of him with a flourish. “Ta-da!” In his hands was a small bouquet of flowers, wrapped in a simple paper wrapping. It wasn’t flashy, but there was a certain beauty to it, one that resembled the majesty of the valley below.

She took the bouquet eagerly. And let her eyes examine the arrangement. “It’s beautiful!” She took it in for a second before pausing, looking back up at her husband. “but… why these flowers?”

“They’re sunflowers. The tallest of them all. One day our daughter, too, will grow great as they do, reaching ever skywards to bask in the light of the sun.”

“Kazami Yusuke, always the poet, huh?”

“It’s what I do best.”

* * *

“Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kazami, the baby is healthy and there are no complications with the birth.”

The couple shared a look of relief as the doctor walked into the room. The new mother sat up on a small white bed while her husband occupied the rickety folding chair by her side. In his lap was a bouquet of flowers not unlike the one he had given her for their anniversary a month prior. “That’s great-- that’s… wow… that’s amazing!” Yusuke placed his hands on his wife’s. “Can you believe it, dear? We’re parents now!”

“Yeah…” She paused, choking back her tears of joy. “I—I can’t believe it’s really happened.” She turned to face the doctor. “Are you sure everything is all right?”

The doctor nodded. “Your daughter is as healthy as can be.” He then stepped forwards and produced a clipboard. “Now let’s get down to business, shall we? What will the little girl be called?”

Yusuke grabbed the clipboard and pen. He turned to face his wife and they both nodded, confirming an unspoken agreement—they always knew what they wanted to name their child, and now was the time to make it official. He looked over the sheet on the clipboard; The top half of the page was occupied by all sorts of information: parent’s names, date, blood type, and all that, but that information did not weigh heavily on Yusuke’s mind. His eyes were immediately drawn towards the middle of the page, where a giant blank space dominated the page. On the corner of this blank space was a small but simple instruction, one that did not need to be said but carried a tremendous weight:

_Name:_

One word, a single statement that could change everything. In this blank lay the future of a person—an identity they would carry for the rest of their life. Yusuke was astounded by the power he felt, but when he looked at the others in the room, their smiles reassured him. He looked back down and let the pen fall upon the page. With all his might, he proceeded to write; these would be the most meticulous, perfect four characters he had ever made, ones that would put his composition teachers of youth to shame.

Not a sound could be heard besides the scratching of the pen against the clipboard. The others watched in rapt attention as he drew the last stroke and handed the paper back to the doctor.

“Ah, what a beautiful name for a beautiful child.” He looked over the paper for a second. “Am I to assume her name is a combination of her parents’?”

Kaori nodded, speaking up from the bed. “In a way…”

“It also stands on its own—faint fragrance, just like these flowers.” He said, gesturing to the bouquet on his lap.

“I see.” The doctor then turned around and headed for the door, “Just a second, I’m going to go type this up.” He left, letting the door shut behind him.

As the door closed, the couple let out a large sigh. “Wow, healthy! What a relief!”

“Tell me about it!” Kaori laughed. “This is my only pregnancy, but it had to have been the hardest one ever! I was so sure we had messed her up somehow.”

“What a stroke of luck! And just in time too, with the house we just closed on…”

“She gets to welcome the new house along with us, and since it’s out in the country she can grow up without having to breathe that terrible air all the time.”

“And we don’t have to wait for the weekends to go _there_.”

“Of course… and I think it will be much more lively with three of us there, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes it would… oh!” Yusuke reacted to the door opening. Through the doorframe he saw the doctor holding a piece of paper, and behind him was a nurse, gently cradling a small bundle of cloth. Immediately, he stood up and rushed over to them. Without a word, the nurse carefully passed the bundle over to him, smiles on both of their faces.

He looked down to inspect it, and poking out of the bundle he saw a small face—the face of his new daughter. She was asleep now, but he knew he’d have all the time in the world to interact with her; for now, he was overjoyed just to hold her in his arms.

Kaori leaned over, taking a look herself. “I… have no words. She’s… beautiful.”

“See? I told you it would all be fine.” Yusuke said, shifting her weight in his arms so his wife could run her hands over the baby’s small scalp. 

As she did so, the child’s eyes opened, at first groggily then dramatically to take in the scene in front of her. Kaori let out a small gasp. “… her eyes…”

“What about them?” The doctor asked.

“They’re… striking…” She stammered. The girl’s eyes were dark—to the point where she could not tell what color they were, but something about them made her uneasy—a feeling she couldn’t understand, but for some reason terrified her. For a short moment, she found herself suppressing the urge to run away from her ten-minute old child: the child whose eyes made as if to pierce straight through her soul.

The doctor laughed, as did her husband. “Don’t worry about that… it’s rather common for a child’s eye color to not be fully developed at birth.” The doctor said. “Judging from her parents… I’d say she will have beautiful brown eyes when she gets older.”

“I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of poorly written poetry about her eyes when that happens.” Yusuke said with a laugh.

Neither of them seemed all too worried, so Kaori dismissed the thought; however, her subconscious continued to nag at her, telling her they were wrong. In spite of that, she laughed. It was that kind of laugh one gives when they don’t actually have anything to laugh to—weak and half-hearted. “Yeah… I guess so.”

“Well, you sound pretty tired, so I shouldn’t keep you here for long.” The doctor said, handing the piece of paper he held to her. “Here is the birth certificate. Make sure to keep it in a safe place.”

She looked over the certificate, which had the simple appearance one would expect of an official form. Towards the top, written in black ink with a simple font, were four simple characters. These same characters that she and her husband had spent the last few months deciding were now the ones that would define the rest of their lives. They read:

_Kazami Yuuka_

* * *

Hidden in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture is a small town, and amongst the rice fields in that valley stood a small house, built in a typical Japanese style. While the summer breeze blew gently past their door, things were not as peaceful as one might have expected of the family whose name meant to watch the wind.

While her husband was outside trying to work on the family’s new ‘garden’ (by now it was clear that he wanted a lot more than a garden), it was Kaori’s turn to give their ten-month-old child a bath. As usual, she undressed the baby and started to reach for the soap—It was then that something on the child’s head caught her eye.

Around this point in a child’s development, they start to grow hair. That was perfectly normal, and Kaori had already noticed the first sprouts a while ago. At this point, however, the hair had grown long enough for her to notice something… peculiar about it.

Little Yuuka’s hair was _green_.

“What the—” Kaori caught herself, she didn’t want the kid’s first words to be something vulgar. Still, she was greatly disturbed by this. Especially considering the child’s eyes haven’t lost a single bit of their evil shimmer, and now have a distinctive reddish tint to them, she couldn’t help but wonder if—

“No, my child is not a demon! She’s just…” Kaori said aloud, mostly to convince herself. She took a deep breath. If only she could find a reasonable explanation for why this would happen…

“Oh, goddamn it Yusuke.” She muttered under her breath, disregarding her previous commitment. She swore to give her husband a good talking to.

She hurried to finish the bath and get Yuuka dressed. After slipping a little dress onto the kid’s shoulders, she picked her up and headed outside.

“Dear…” Yusuke’s ears perked up at the sound of his wife calling from the doorway. He set down his spade and stood up to face her.

“What is it? Did she not want a bath again?”

“No, the bath went fine.” Kaori shook her head, a somewhat unnerving smile on her face. She nodded her head up to signal for him to come. “Come here, I need to talk to you.”

“What do you need, dear?” he asked as he walked closer.

She shuffled the child’s weight in her arms, lifting her slightly. “Well, you tell me. Do you notice anything… off?”

“Off?”

“Well… like say, how does our daughter look?”

“As beautiful as ever.” He answered. He knew that much, and could not understand why his wife seemed so… angry.

“…How about her hair?”

“It’s been growing in quite nicely lately.” He said, reaching over to stroke her head. “She’s a remarkable kid, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“What I’m saying is… what gave you the idea to _dye her hair_?” Kaori’s fake smile had faded away by this point, replaced by a pointed look of furious displeasure.

“ _Dye_ it?” He answered her question with another question. “I get that it’s a rare color, but I don’t think we should do that—not now at least. We should give her natural hair color a chance.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Are you saying you _haven’t_ dyed it?” Kaori asked, still accusative in tone. “Then explain to me why our daughter’s hair is _green_!” Hearing the brewing argument between her parents, the young Yuuka looked up and let her (red) eyes dart between both of their faces.

“Why is your hair black? Who knows why people have the hair they do.” Yusuke responded. “But it’s green now because we have _not_ dyed it.”

“Your hair is black too! Last I checked, green hair was not a dominant trait.” She leaned in to get right in her husband’s face. “In fact, it’s not a trait at all! _Humans don’t have green hair!_ ”

“Well, clearly that is wrong—there’s one right there.” Yusuke pointed to the child’s head then crossed his arms with a huff.

“You seriously expect me to believe I gave birth to a child with _green hair_ ? —Oh! And _red eyes too_! In what kind of world is that normal?”

Yuuka didn’t know what was happening, but she knew her mom was mad. By now, she knew that whenever her mom was mad, there was one word she often used. Whether she meant it or not, she used this word more than her own name.

“D- d-…” The child stammered out, trying desperately to form the word in her mouth.

The two parents immediately stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on her. This was good, if she could stop her parents from fighting with just this word— after all, whenever her mom said this word she would always stop yelling.

“Is she trying to—”

“I think she is.”

“D- d-…” Her parents looked at her expectantly.

“…Demon!” She said, and smiled. She was happy to say this word if that’s what it took for her parents to calm down, and that happiness shone through in her toothy grin and eyes that seemed to be getting redder by the minute.

All did not go as planned for little Yuuka. Her mom stepped back in shock, momentarily forgetting she had her daughter in her hands, dropping the child as she lifted her hands to her mouth. “I… I…”

Yusuke’s reflexes were, thankfully, fast enough to catch the child. He cradled her in his arms before turning his gaze towards his wife. “Just what have you been teaching her? Do you really think so lowly of _your own child_?”

Kaori was so shocked she couldn’t formulate a coherent response. 

“That’s what it is, isn’t it?” Yusuke raised his voice, for one of the few times in his life. “You think she’s a _demon_ , don’t you? You’re so callous and selfish to think she—your _daughter_ —is some sort of ‘youkai’ sent to ruin your life. Is that it, huh?” He, still carrying Yuuka, took a step towards her. “I don’t know why I let you be near her so much. From what I’ve seen in the last five minutes… I can’t bear to think what happens when I’m away.”

“I… I don’t…” Kaori stammered, before deciding that the whole situation was too much. She turned heel and ran off to the bedroom.

After she was gone, Yusuke clutched his daughter closer to his chest. “Don’t worry… I’ll always be here. I’ll always be here for you, Yuuka.”

* * *

A gleeful laugh pierced the silence as a four-year-old Yuuka ran through the flower-coated meadows. The scenery here hadn’t changed a bit since her parents first started taking regular trips to this secluded valley.

Yusuke followed shortly behind his daughter, arms outstretched. “I’m gonna get you~!” He teased.

They had been at this for a while already, and continued for a few more minutes with Yuuka weaving between the stalks of the sunflowers while her father followed at a brisk walk.

“Ha! Got you!” Yusuke shouted as he pounced onto his daughter, bringing his hands around her and lifting her up to his shoulders. He then let out a laugh—his signature laugh, the one that filled the valley with cheer and love.

Yuuka laughed as well, but her voice was beginning to sound strained by this point. “A… again…” she mumbled.

A chuckle. “You know what? I think we should probably take a break.” He said, setting her down on the ground. “Don’t want you passing out on me.”

“But I strong!” She complained.

“Yes you are,” he laughed a little more. “Strong enough to take on the strongest beasts. But,” He placed his hand on her head, prompting her to look up at his face. “Your dad needs a little rest, so why don’t you stay here and protect me.” He said, flipping the argument.

“Okay!”

Yusuke smiled and ruffled her green hair. “Thanks.”

The two of them sat looking out at the scenery for a moment. Of course, it was a short moment—young children don’t have that much patience. Yuuka soon reached out to pull on her father’s sleeve. “Daddy…”

“What is it, Yuuka?” 

“Why is no one else here?”

He continued to smile, showing her his teeth. “Well, my dear, that’s because this is my domain. Only the most beautiful things are allowed in the Land of Fantasies!” He turned to look out at the horizon. “And some day, it will be yours.”

“But why didn’t mommy come?”

Her dad hesitated for a second. “She… She wasn’t feeling good today.”

Yuuka hummed, then she stood up and walked towards a nearby patch of flowers. She looked over a few of them before carefully picking a small yellow tulip and cupping it in her hands.

“What’s that for?” Her dad asked.

“For mommy!” She said. “Get better!”

He laughed again. “You are truly the sweetest girl around, aren’t you?” He ruffled her hair again. “Sure. Give it a try.”

* * *

“Hey, isn’t that the Kazami kid?”

“Shh—not so loud! She might hear you!”

“Don’t worry, she can’t… oh no, she’s looking this way!”

“Do you _want_ to get cursed?”

Kaori cringed at the sound of her neighbors’ gossip. ‘ _Just ignore them_ .’ She thought. ‘ _You’re just a normal mother, walking her d-_ **_daughter_ ** _home from the park. Nothing is wrong. Nothing is—_ ’

Her train of thought was cut off as she felt a tug on her hand. “Mommy, too fast!”

“You want to get home or not?” She angrily replied. When she got a nod in response, she continued. “Then you better get moving.” Then, without further discussion, she began walking faster than before, jerking her daughter along.

‘ _That damn Yusuke, what was he thinking?_ ’ Kaori internally spat. ‘ _Mother-daughter bonding? What a joke! Now the whole town knows I’m her mother!_ ’

“Mommy…”

‘ _And can’t she just_ **_shut up_ ** _? I can hardly hear myself think!_ ’

“Mommy…”

“What!?” Fresh out of patience, she drove to a sudden stop and turned to face the kid.

“Home is there.” Yuuka said, pointing to a house they had walked past.

She looked up at the house and confirmed that yes, they had just walked past their house. “…oh.” She grabbed her daughter’s hand and began pulling just as forcefully as before. She stomped up to the front door and opened it, practically shoving the girl in once it opened. “There you go.”

The girl ran off into the house while Kaori remained at the door. Oddly enough, _she_ was the one who had to catch their breath.

“Well, how’d it go?” As her daughter went out of earshot, her husband strolled up to the entryway.

“Not well, I can tell you that.”

Yusuke’s face flashed with concern. “Did Yuuka get hurt? How?”

She waved her hand in the air, indicating that his concern is misplaced. “No… the kid is just like you left her. It’s just…”

“What? Did she not get along with the other kids?”

Kaori hummed. “…In a way.”

“What does that mean? Was there a fight?”

“No. None of them are dumb enough to try that.”

Yusuke’s worry slowly began to fade into confusion. “Then what was it?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Kaori asked rhetorically, “The moment they saw her, all the other families got up and left.”

Yusuke just shrugged. “I’m sure they just had somewhere to be.”

“Somewhere to be? In this dump of a town? You think they all had to go to the outhouse or something?” She retorted sarcastically.

“You’ve lived here for four years, you know the people here are not _that_ backwards.”

“Of course they’re not backwards—quite _forwards_ in fact. Forward-thinking enough to run away when they see a—” She caught herself, but both she and her husband knew very well what she was about to say. “excuse me.” She began to step away. “I think I need a rest.”

Meanwhile, young Yuuka had been left to explore on her own—and she knew exactly where she wanted to go first. Her small footsteps had brought her into her parents’ room, a place she was seldom allowed to enter.

She hadn’t noticed yet, but as the years went on, the distribution of items in the room became progressively more distinct. Her mother’s belongings tended to be placed on the left side and her father’s on the right.

Something caught her eye in the corner of the room: a small plant in a disposable plastic cup. She instantly recognized this as the flower she had brought back to give to her mom a few weeks ago. She immediately rushed over and grabbed the cup off of the table it sat on.

She had heard that plants grow over time, just like people, so she was excited to see how much this flower had grown—It must have grown a lot! After all, it was the special flower she had chosen for mommy!

When she looked carefully, however, she was not pleased. Counter to her expectations, the flower had not grown at all. In fact, it seemed like it had gotten _smaller_. And a lot less colorful. The tulip drooped sadly where it had previously stood tall and proud.

Not knowing what to do, or why this would have happened, she did the thing kids her age did best—she cried. The tears were not loud—she knew her mom didn’t like it when she cried too loudly, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t audible.

“What’s that noise?” She heard a familiar voice just outside the door. Shortly afterwards, her mother stepped into the room and saw her on the ground. “What are you doing—” She started to shout, but stopped when she saw Yuuka was crying. She knew why the flower had wilted—she never bothered to water it; admittedly, she had forgotten about that little gift entirely. Still, she wasn’t sure what she could do about it, so she stood there, silently watching her daughter crying over a dead plant.

Yuuka, still crying, looked up to see her mom standing there. She couldn’t exactly figure out what she was thinking, but she could tell her mom wasn’t happy.

Unable to express herself in words, she instead lifted the plant, as if to demonstrate what the problem was. She then furthered the demonstration by grabbing the top of the stem with her other and moving it upright to show how it should look.

The moment she touched that stem, however, was the moment everything changed. As if by magic, color began to rush into the flower. The stem grew strong again, strong enough to stand on its own, and the flower itself once again bloomed, this time more radiant and beautiful than ever.

Yuuka could not understand just what it was she had done, but to see this flower blossoming stopped her tears and brought a smile to her face. She looked up at her mom, hoping she would be glad to have her beautiful gift restored to glory.

This child had, by her touch alone, brought a dead flower back to life.

Kaori, however, could not take it. “No… no…” She stammered, taking a few steps backwards before losing balance and falling on her rear. “No way…” Her natural instincts soon took over, telling her to run as far away as possible. She quickly got back up and turned tail, screaming into the entryway and out the front door. ‘ _I knew it! I knew something was wrong with that kid. I can’t believe I’ve spent the last four years convincing myself I was wrong! Normal kids don’t have red eyes; normal kids don’t have green hair; normal kids_ **_definitely_ ** _don’t have control over life and death. Why was he so stupid? Why was_ **_I_ ** _so stupid for listening to him? Now I know; that’s no child, that’s a_ **_demon_ ** _. 100% demon. Oh God—any god—please save me!_ ’

Before she knew it, she had made it outside, into the garden where her husband was admiring his handiwork. He noticed her approach and dropped everything to see what was up. “Goodness, dear! What happened? It hasn’t even been five minutes!”

“The… the child! She’s—”

“What?” He saw the terrified look on his wife’s face and assumed the worst. “What happened to her?” He asked, but without even waiting for an answer he took off into a sprint, barging into the house. The house wasn’t all that large, so it didn’t take long for him to find the room where his daughter sat on the ground. “Yuuka!” He nearly dove at her, scooping her up into his arms. “What happened, are you okay?”

“Mmhmm.” She nodded, unsure of how to react. She definitely wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t in pain either, she seemed… disappointed. She looked into her father’s eyes. “Why mommy run away?”

“Run away…?” He asked. “Why would she…?” He shook his head and looked into her eyes. “What were you doing when she ran away?”

“…The flower.” She mumbled. Her father could clearly see a flower in one of her hands. Judging by the plastic cup on the ground right beside where she was sitting, this was probably that same flower she’d brought back from their trip to _there_. It was blossoming quite nicely; he hadn’t seen it in a while, so he assumed that his wife must have been taking good care of it. That was a good thing, so he couldn’t quite see what the problem was.

“What about the flower? It looks fine to me.” He made a note to pick the cup back up and put the flower back in later, once his arms weren’t full of four-year-old.

After Yuuka didn’t respond, he lifted her up onto his shoulders and started walking outside. As he opened the door, he saw his wife crouched in the strangest position, radiating a large amount of fear and confusion. When she heard the door open, she spared a glance in his direction before her eyes went wide and she turned back away. “Don’t come closer!”

“What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Yusuke asked, ignoring her warnings and stepping nearer anyways. “Yuuka looks completely fine. I don’t get what you’re—”

Kaori stood up slowly, still facing away. “You don’t get it? Of course _she’s_ fine. I imagine she’d be right at home in the depths of hell.”

“She’s a strong girl, yeah.” He still wasn’t getting her point. “What are you trying to get at?”

She turned towards him again to tell him just what she thought about him and that ‘girl,’ but she froze when she saw that not only was he carrying the child, _she_ had something sticking out of her hand. “That flower…?”

“Again with this flower? I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“You don’t?” Kaori shouted. “That flower was **_dead_ **.”

“Dead…?”

“Yes. Dead. All brown and shriveled up and ugly.” She took a breath and pointed her finger at Yuuka, who still hung onto her father’s shoulder. “And then _this_ infernal child gave it a single touch and _BAM_! Good as new.”

“What?”

“I knew all this time, and you wouldn’t listen! She’s a demon I tell you, a demon!”

Yusuke was taken aback by this. He didn’t want his daughter to be in the middle of this argument, so he leaned down to place Yuuka on the ground before he stepped forwards and got in his wife face. “How does that make any sense? I thought we’d talked about this! She’s our _daughter_! Not some evil spirit to be exorcised!”

“Do expect me to believe a normal child is supposed to do _that_?”

“Even if she did, how is bringing a flower to life supposed to be _evil_?”

“Then what _would_ you call—” Suddenly, she stopped talking. After a second of tense silence, she warily raised a hand to point behind where her husband was standing.

“Call what? What are you—” Following her hand, he saw what had affected her so. They were standing in the garden at the moment, although it was more a small field than anything. They were surrounded by the stalks of sunflowers that had yet to bloom. However, a few of them _were_ blooming. All of those seemed to make a path—leading straight towards a green haired girl.

It was clear that she was trying to get away from the argument, and the two parents watched as she continued to run away. Every stalk she bumped into along the way soon became a blooming flower.

“It’s… beautiful.”

“It’s ungodly, that’s what it is.”

Yusuke turned back towards his wife. “I’ve had enough of you treating our daughter like she’s some sort of demon!”

“Have you ever _looked_ at her? You just saw what she can do! That’s not natural!” Kaori fired back.

“I’ve seen her, and I know our daughter is not a demon,” He got as close to her face as he could get. “She’s an _angel_ .”


	2. Sprouting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I will be updating this series daily until I've posted everything I have written. Please enjoy.

_Spring has come, spring has come, where has it come?_

Two years later, a six-year-old Yuuka skipped through the fields of _The Land of Fantasies_ , singing a popular children’s song.

_It came to the mountains, it came to the village, it even came to the fields._

Watching over her, her father sat on the grass, a smile on his face.

_Flowers are blooming, flowers are blooming, where are they blooming?_

No longer did she ask where her mother was on these trips, she was starting to understand the real answer.

_They bloom on the mountains, they bloom in the village, they even bloom in the fields._

Lately, he has been taking every opportunity to come out here, the one place where he could take his daughter where she could get away from all the problems in her life. Here, she was allowed to run and play like a normal kid. Here, she _was_ a normal kid, if only because she was the only one.

‘ _She looks so happy right now. I wish she could just stay like this forever._ ’ He thought as he watched her prancing through the fields. “Yuuka, I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

“Promise me, that whenever you feel scared or frightened, never forget the times when you felt happy; When the day is dark, always remember the happy days.”

“Ok!” She agreed instantly, in that way a child does when you’re not really sure if they were listening or not.

“Alright, now tell me what you’re going to do.” He asked to make sure she was listening, because if there was any one piece of advice that could get her through the rest of her life, that might just be it.

“Alway rember happy day.”

He gave her a pat on the head. “Good enough.”

* * *

“Hey!”

An eight-year-old Yuuka hummed a tune as she played with the flowers in the elementary school’s flower bed. It was winter, but that did not stop these flowers from blooming proudly. The cause of this phenomenon saw nothing wrong with this, and took her time admiring their beauty.

“Hey you!”

Once she was done admiring one, she moved to the next. This had been the third-grader’s daily routine for months now, and by now she had figured out how to get the flowers to do a little dance when she got close to them.

“I’m talking to you, freak-bag!”

It wasn’t like she wasn’t aware of the rowdy sixth-grader who had come to pester her, but she elected to follow the advice her father gave her recently when she brought this up: just ignore him. So that’s what she did: ignore him and continue playing with the flowers on her own. Of course she’d never get any friends by staring at flowers all day, but by now she had given up on such things—everyone hated her and that was normal. She didn’t need them anyway; these flowers were the best friends she could have.

“Hey!” Fed up with being ignored, the sixth-grade boy reached over to grab her by the collar. He brought her face close to his and shouted: “Look at me when I’m talking to you, you little freak-bag!” Where he came up with that particular moniker is a mystery, but unimportant.

Yuuka, sticking to her previous decision to ignore him, did absolutely nothing. She didn’t even turn her head away, instead she stared straight forwards as if her red eyes were able to stare straight through the boy.

“Stop looking at me with those freaky eyes!” The boy said, despite having just told her to do the opposite—irony is not exactly the sixth-grader’s strong suit. Still, Yuuka did not move a muscle. “I said _stop it_!” He snapped, lunging forward and slamming her head into the wall. As her head collides with the wall, he stops to look around at the ground around her. “…freaky girl and your freaky flowers.” He keeps one hand at her neck and reaches out with the other to pluck one of the flowers out of the ground. “I’ll show you what I think of your stupid flowers!”

The boy clenched his left hand violently, crushing the small flower between his fingers. Yuuka had given life to this flower, and in this instant, felt that life come rushing back to her in the form of an anguished cry. She could hear the flower, her friend, crying out to her in its final moments. Promises to her dad be damned, this boy just killed her friend, and he has the gall to laugh at its pain. He must be punished.

“Ha! What’s that face for? Did I finally get on your nerves, you freak-bag?” He laughed, but his laughter became more forced as he saw Yuuka slowly get up, his arm proving futile in pinning her down. In fact, just by standing up, Yuuka forced him to stumble back.

“You killed my friend.” He was about to laugh at her ridiculous statement, but she continued before he could. “So tell me.” She said, a calm fury burning in her red eyes, making a stern face quite unfitting for an eight-year-old child. “Which arm is your favorite?”

“Well, my right arm of course!” He may be a bully, but he’s still just as naïve as any sixth grader; he answered the question without a thought. “Why?”

“Good, I’ll break that one first.” She said before lunging at him.

The boy soon found their positions reversed, now he was on the ground, pinned down by the girl that was hardly half his size. A piercing scream could be heard all over the school grounds as the boy felt every bone in his arm shatter, one by one from the fingers down to his shoulder. All the while he was helpless to do anything but watch as his limb moved all sorts of ways it definitely should not be able to.

This quickly earned the attention of the nearby adults, ones that had been more than happy to ignore the situation when the boy had been in charge. A teacher soon arrived at the scene, trying to pull Yuuka off. When she failed, two more joined her, prying the girl away from the boy.

Said boy had lost all pretense of strength after the maiming, squirming on the ground, crying for his mama like never before. His right arm, all but destroyed, wouldn’t move no matter how much he tried.

Amongst the teachers was the third-grade teacher, Yuuka’s own. She quickly took control of the situation, grabbing the girl by her shoulders and taking her aside. “Kazami Yuuka, just what the—what do you think you were doing!?”

“I broke his arm.” She replied, simply and with a matter-of-fact tone.

“And _why_ in the world would you do that?”

Yuuka lifted her hands and opened her palms, displaying the flower that the boy had destroyed—she had been able to recover it during the scuffle. “He killed my friend.” While ordinarily, she would be able to revive a dead flower, she did not do so here out of respect for the fallen.

“Your friend?” The teacher almost scoffs. “That’s a flower.” She shook her head. “Just because he touched your little garden doesn’t mean you have to _maim_ him! That boy is a star on the baseball team, and thanks to _you_ , he may never be able to play again.”

“Good, then he can never hurt my friends again.”

* * *

“Daddy, where are we going?”

“Just wait, you’ll see.” Her father reassured her as he guided Yuuka around the house, one hand over her eyes. He slowly lead the way into the kitchen, where he sat her down on a chair. “Alright, now keep your eyes closed,” he said as he slowly brought his hand away and stepped away from her. Once he saw his daughter doing as asked, he straightened his back and looked around, trying to find something before realizing it wasn’t there. “ _Oh come on,”_ he hissed under his breath. He turned back towards Yuuka for a second; “Stay right there, I’ll be right back,” he said before leaving into the hallway.

Like she was told, she kept her eyes closed, but that didn’t prevent her from hearing through the thin walls.

“I thought we went over this!” Her father shouted in the distance.

“Went over what?” Her mother responded in a tired voice, barely audible even with the thin walls.

“You were supposed to be waiting in the kitchen with the cake! That’s all you had to do!”

“I don’t see why you expected me to do any of that.” Her mother replied calmly, brushing off his indignation. “You know what I think of all that… business.”

“Can’t you do something nice for _once_ ? She’s your _daughter_ , and she needs a mother just like any girl her age.”

“She’s a demon, that’s what she is.”

“Oh, can you stop it with the demon this, demon that! It’s been nine years; she hasn’t done _anything_ to deserve that title! Why can’t you see her as the angel she is?”

“Angel?” Her mother let out a sharp laugh. “Tell that to Mrs. Tanaka, whose son was been in the hospital for weeks! How’s that for your little angel? Baby’s first senseless beatdown?”

“Well _maybe_ if you had shown her a little more care she might have learned how to deal with people in a mature way!”

“Hey, last I checked _you_ were the one who’s been raising her. I don’t see you teaching her about social interactions! Does that mean the whole fiasco is _your_ fault then?”

“Better mine than hers.” After her father says this, there was a brief moment of silence before the sound of loud footsteps, presumably meaning he decided to cut off the argument and walk away.

The ensuing silence gave young Yuuka time to think. By this point, she understood that she wasn’t a normal kid, and some people hated her for it. However, those people are just mean people. That’s what her dad always told her. If even her mom was a mean person, that was okay—she still had her dad and her flower friends.

After a few minutes, the footsteps in the hallway came closer and closer until they were just outside the kitchen. Through the threshold came her father: alone, with his arms full. He carried several things, but what stood out the most was the small cake that sat on top. When his eyes met hers, he laughed. “I guess you couldn’t hold your eyes closed for that long, could you?”

Yuuka quickly remembered what her dad had told her to do. Sure he’s laughing now, but what about the inside? Did she disappoint him? She quickly averted her eyes. “U- um, well…”

He laughed even louder—filling the room with that signature laugh she knew all too well. He wasn’t disappointed in the slightest; he was _happy_ . “Now, now, no need to apologize. Besides, I don’t have the right to order you around like that. If anything, _you_ should be telling me what to do.” She looked up at him, wondering what he meant. “You know why that is?”

She tilted her head. “Because I’m strong?”

“Ha! That too. More importantly, though,” He leaned over to place the cake on the counter in front of her. “It’s your birthday!” 

Instantly, her eyes lit up. Now, it wasn’t like she didn’t know it was her birthday, rather that birthdays in general are a very exciting affair for kids her age. This year’s celebrations so far have gone no different from previous years: a modest event held in the comfort of their kitchen. Some years involved the begrudging support of her mother, but most have just been the two of them.

After an obligatory singing of the ‘happy birthday’ song, whose English lyrics Yuuka finally managed to memorize, her father moved on to cutting the cake. It was a plain white cake, with a very simple message on it written in red frosting. A few years ago, he tried drawing a floral design, but Yuuka was so infatuated with it she wouldn’t let him cut the cake; ever since then, he has had to hold a strict ‘no flowers on food’ policy if he ever wanted to actually eat it. “Here you go.” He said, passing her a small plate with an equally child-sized slice on it.

Yuuka, still an impatient child, immediately reached for it. “Thanks Daddy!”

“You’re saying thanks already?” He laughed as, in the interest of fairness, he put an equally sized slice on his plate. “I haven’t even given you your gift yet!”

“Gift?” She asked between bites, her mouth still quite full.

“Birthdays aren’t just about cake, you know?” He waved his fork around to emphasize his point. “I haven’t been able to get you much these past few years, but this year I got you something special!”

As with any family in the Japanese countryside, their primary source of income comes from selling their harvest. Usually what brought hard times to agricultural families such as the Kazami household were things such as droughts and other hardships that brought poor harvests. That was not an issue—this farm grew flowers, and they just happened to have a resident who could ensure perfect flowers at any time of year.

The problem was, however, that no one in the town was willing to buy unnatural flowers that have been ‘tainted’ by the touch of a ‘demon.’ Even though the family considered selling to outside distributors, the neighbors were quite effective in convincing outsiders not to approach this particular house for a similar reason. As a result, the Kazami family has a hard time finding willing customers. Usually the local shrine keeper, a long-time friend of Yusuke’s, buys a few, but only in very small quantities: it wouldn’t do for the community to find the religious authorities, whose job is to exorcise such apparitions, buying their products.

In short, money has been hard to come by, and any that has come their way has gone into paying for food, heating, and other essentials. Only after several years of saving has he been able so scrape together enough to buy something special.

“Here, look.” He picked up a long pink object. He brought this along with the cake, but she was too focused on that to notice this until now. He brought it up to eye level and held it with one hand, running the other hand along the pole in the center. This caused the cloth surrounding the pole to spread out, making it take up a lot more space than before. He brought it back so it rested on his shoulder and gave it a spin.

“An… umbrella?”

“A _parasol_. Although it could also serve as a normal umbrella if you want.” He stopped spinning it and held it in front of him. “But this isn’t just any parasol, it’s special.”

“Special?”

“Yes, you can’t buy something like this at the store.” He folded the parasol up and flipped it so the tip faced downwards. “It took me a while to get all the right materials, but I guarantee that no matter what you do…” With all his might, he slammed it into the floor, the tip digging in and making a clean hole. “…it will never break.” This surprised his daughter, but he could see that she was also pleased.

“Wow!”

“…And it’s all yours.” He smiled before picking the parasol out of the ground and handing it over to her. While she took it, he spoke up again. “I truly put my soul into this, so I hope you like it. I made it to be just like you: my beautiful flower that will never wilt.”

* * *

Not too long after her ninth birthday, Yuuka was on her way home from school. As was typical for kids in her town, she made the relatively short journey alone. All the way, she skipped happily along the side of the road under the shade of her new parasol. Along the way, she spotted a small flower growing by itself on the edge of the pavement.

Yuuka quickly came to a halt and kneeled down in front of the flower. “Aww, you look so lonely…” She said to the flower that weakly bloomed by the roadside. “Here, let me help you.” She reached out and touched one of the leaves that came off of the stem. Instantly, the flower started to look much healthier, but she wasn’t quite done yet.

“Sorry, this might hurt a bit.” She said, like a doctor about to perform an operation. Gently, she pulled on the leaf, separating it from the stem. Then she dug a small hole in the ground and placed the leaf in it. She then packed some of the dirt back on and held her hand overtop. The ground responded quickly to her ritual, and soon a bit of green poked through the dirt. Before long, that one leaf had grown into yet another flower, standing and blooming proudly next to the first. “There you go! Now you have a friend!” She gave both of the flowers a little pat. “Now you don’t have to be lonely anymore!” Satisfied with her handiwork, Yuuka stood back up, brushed the dirt off her skirt and started to walk off.

She didn’t get very far, however. Right in front of her eyes stood another girl somewhere around her age. Said girl was still with shock, confronted with what she just saw. “W- Wha- What did you do?”

Yuuka, too, was taken aback. She faintly recognized this person, but couldn’t remember just who she was. Regardless, people didn’t normally just talk to her like that. “W- Well, I helped him; I gave him a friend.”

“Him…? A friend…?”

Yuuka nodded happily. “Yep!” she pointed to the first flower by the road. “He was lonely, so I gave him a friend!”

“What are you talking about? That flower is him?” An affirmative nod from Yuuka did not help her understanding in the slightest. After a few seconds, however, something dawned on her. “Oh, you’re _that_ girl aren’t you? I thought the green hair was weird.”

“That girl? Who’s that girl? And my hair’s not weird, Daddy says it’s beautiful!”

She pointed an accusatory finger at Yuuka. “You’re that creepy flower girl my brother is always talking about! The one who is always alone and only talks to flowers! You’re that girl, aren’t you?”

Yuuka tilted her head in thought. “Oh… I guess I _am_ that girl, huh.”

“My brother says you beat him up, but I don’t believe it! He’s super strong! There’s no way a loser like you could beat him up!” The girl paused for a second before deciding on something, shifting her stance to a more aggressive one. “I know! I’ll beat _you_ up and prove it!”

“Why do you want to beat--?” Yuuka’s sentence was cut off by something impacting her chest. Looking down, she discovered that the girl had thrown a punch that connected right above her heart. However, she barely felt it.

The girl failed to notice that her punch had no effect, and so threw another, and another. “Take this! And that! And take… that!” She thought that last one would be some sort of extra-strength super punch, but it did just as much damage as the ones before it.

“Um… what are you doing?” Yuuka finally spoke up after the fourth punch hit.

“…Huh?” After realizing that her attacks were yielding no results, the girl redoubled her efforts. She punched from all angles and added in some kicks, but no matter what she did, her opponent just stood there, looking at her weirdly with those piercing red eyes. Eventually, the girl stepped back, exhausted. “How are you…?”

After a pregnant pause, Yuuka felt it was her turn to respond. “Um… can I go now?”

“No, I still need to beat you up!” The girl said. She stared at Yuuka for a few more seconds before an idea found its way into her head. “I got it! I know where you’re getting that power from!” She raised her foot, “You’re always talking to those flowers, so if I just got rid of them…” She started to bring her foot down, but before her foot got near the flowers, it was knocked out of the way by a high-speed parasol smacking right into her shin.

“Get away from them!” Yuuka shouted for the first time in this engagement, bringing the parasol closer to her and putting it back over her shoulder. The parasol was perfectly fine; however, the same could not be said for the shin it hit.

With this single hit, one Yuuka had intended as merely a warning no less, the girl was on the ground, screaming hysterically. Her leg was visibly broken and a large portion of her shin bone completely pulverized.

Still, the culprit felt satisfied that the girl had learned her lesson, and so Yuuka turned around and continued to walk right on home.

* * *

That very night, Yuuka and her parents were having a tense dinner, as always.

“So…” Her father tried to break the silence. “How was school today?”

“Good!” Yuuka smiled. “I finally got some pansies to bloom in Yuukarin Land!” She said with glee. Yuukarin Land being the name her father had given a while ago to the small plot of flowers she keeps on the school grounds.

“Oh really? Good for you!” Her father was actually interested in this news: Yuuka had talked to him several times over the past few weeks about this, and so it was exciting to hear it worked out for her.

Her mother, however, wasn’t all that intrigued. “Somehow I feel like that’s not supposed to be the only thing a kid does at school.”

“Hey,” her father responded. “She’s passionate about it, and she’s pretty good at it too.”

“Of course she’s good at it,” Her mother waved her hand dismissively. “She’s the only one who can do it in the first place. If only there was a ‘South Nagano School for Gifted Youkai’ I’m sure our little demon would get perfect grades at a place like that.”

After hearing it so much, her father could only shake his head at her choice of words. “Seriously dear…” He pinched his nose in frustration, “besides, she almost always gets perfect grades at her current school.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Yuuka asked. “Are you sending me to a different school? Do I have to say goodbye to Yuukarin Land?”

Her dad laughed. “No need to worry, we’re just joking, right?” He glared at his wife, perhaps a little too sharply, and elicited a nod from her. “besides, that school doesn’t actually exist. Yours is the only one around here.” He gave his daughter a pat on the head and smiled when she looked up at him. “Don’t worry, we won’t ever force you to say goodbye to your friends.”

“You know, I’m surprised.” Her mom said. “You managed to get that to sound almost normal. Hell, if I didn’t know the context I wouldn’t even bat an eye.”

That earned her a stern look. “Can you stop saying things like that…” Yusuke, however, was cut off from his reprimand by a loud thump echoing through the house. “What was that? It sounded like someone was knocking on the door.”

“More like they’re trying to break it down…”

He simply ignored his wife’s comment and stood up from the table. “I don’t know who it is, almost no one ever knocks at our door… but I’m gonna go check. Be right back.” He turned and walked towards the front of the house. All the way there, the banging continued—whoever it was, they were not patient. Even if it might have felt like an eternity to the person outside, Yusuke was at the door in a matter of seconds. “Alright, alright, calm down! I’m opening it!” He said.

“You better be!” On the other side of the door was a man’s voice, and if the banging did not make it painfully obvious, he wasn’t very happy.

True to his word, the door opened, and Yusuke was met with the face of a man he recognized, but did not expect or want standing at his doorstep. Despite his thoughts of the man, and the man’s thoughts of him, he had to keep some air of cordiality. “Mr. Tanaka, what a surprise. What brings you here tonight?”

“What brings me here? What do you _think_ brings me here, Kazami? Do you think I just go for leisurely strolls down to your godforsaken sunflower farm?” He gestured angrily with his left hand, but Yusuke couldn’t help but notice he kept his right firmly hidden in his jacket. “I’m here because of that infernal demon you call your daughter! Do you know what--?”

“Now, now, Mr. Tanaka,” Yusuke interrupted him, trying to defuse his anger. “I thought we’ve been over this. I apologized, she apologized; I know it must have been hard for you, but what more is there to discuss?”

“Oh, you don’t get it, do you?” He pointed aggressively with his hand, poking Yusuke’s chest. “You’ve got no idea what I’m talking about, huh? Sure you apologized—the first time.”

“…The first time?”

“Oh yes, turns out that _thing_ is quite the repeat offender.”

“I—I don’t believe that.” Yusuke held his ground. “I thought your son was still rehabilitating at home. Yuuka’s never been late coming home from school, there’s no way something like that could have happened.”

“ _Did you think I only had one kid?_ ” Mr. Tanaka leaned right into his face and spoke slowly. “I know you’ve seen my daughter. _She_ always comes home on time.”

“I don’t see what this has to do with—”

“—But today, she _didn’t_.” He had paused just long enough for Yusuke to interrupt, but not long enough for him to finish his sentence. “You see, my wife and I were freaking out. What if something happened to our poor daughter too? So we went out to look for her. We finally found her across town, not all that far from here. And you know what we found?” He didn’t even wait for an answer. “There she was, laying on the ground, with her leg in a very… familiar shape.”

“What are you trying to--?”

“And when we talked to her, asked her what happened? She said ‘it was that freaky flower girl—the one with the green hair!’” He leaned in even more, using his left hand to grab Yusuke’s shoulder. “My, where have I heard that description before?”

“What are you saying? I haven’t heard any of this!” Yusuke wrestled his way out of his grasp, stepping a few steps back.

“What I’m saying, Mr. Kazami,” Tanaka stepped forwards. “Is that, thanks to your little sunflower, I have a son who may never throw again, and now I have a daughter who may never walk again. That is why I am giving you a choice.”

“…A choice?”

“Yes, a choice.” Tanaka pulled his right hand out of his jacket slowly, revealing the pistol he held in it. “Since you’re _such_ nice people, all you have to do is give that little demon to me—I’ll deal with it, and you and your wife can finally live that peaceful, romantic country life you city types always dream about.” He took another step forwards. “If you don’t, then I’m going to have to handle it the hard way—and you know what that means.”

Looking down the barrel of a loaded gun could make anyone doubt their convictions, but Yusuke did not hesitate for a second—the answer was obvious to him. “No.”

“…No? Really?” When Yusuke affirmed his decision, Tanaka continued. “‘No,’ you say, huh? That means you would be willing to sacrifice yourself _and your wife_ , just to protect this little demon of yours. A wife, I’ve heard, who does not share the same affection you do for it.”

“’It’ is my _daughter_ , and I am prepared to sacrifice anything if it is for her sake. No price is too great if it means my daughter can have a future. That shouldn’t surprise you, Mr. Tanaka: clearly you feel the same way about yours.”

“Don’t you dare compare my daughter to your… thing! At least mine is _human_ , I doubt the same could be said for yours.” 

Their argument was interrupted by a small voice peeking out from the corner. “Daddy, what’s taking so long? I heard shouting…”

Yusuke was shocked to see the little green head poking out, but he tried to hide his surprise and appear unworried. “Nothing’s wrong sweetie, him and I are just talking. Just go back with your mommy.” That was a rare thing for him to say, but in this situation it was better than the alternative. Still, the girl hesitated, worried for her father.

“Well would you look at that!” The intruder laughed. “You’re right, Kazami. Nothing’s wrong. In fact…” He turned to point the gun at the girl. “You’ve just made my job a whole lot easier.”

Acting on instinct, Yusuke immediately moved to step between the man and his daughter. “Not so fast, Mr. Tanaka! Did you not hear what I said? I would sacrifice anything for her. If you want to harm my daughter, you will have to go through me.”

“Daddy…” Yuuka did not quite understand what was going on yet, but she knew whatever it was, there was a palpable tension in the air.

“Sure I heard your resolve—quite brave aren’t you? However, you heard mine as well.” He used his thumb to ready the pistol, tightening his grip on the gun. “If you’re prepared to sacrifice anything, then we have nothing to talk about.” With nothing more to say, Tanaka pulled on the trigger.

The bullet left the gun with a loud bang, in an instant finding its way into the chest of Kazami Yusuke and becoming lodged in his left lung. “Argh…” despite all his talk, Yusuke was not much of a soldier, and soon collapsed onto one knee, hunched over and coughing up blood. “…Damnit.”

“Daddy!” Yuuka ran up to him. “Daddy, are you okay?”

“I’m—” He coughed, letting out a large volume of blood. “I’m… fine. Just run, Yuuka. Get away from here.” He tried to be more assertive, but with how hard it was for him to even breathe, shouting was way out of the question.

“Alright, now that I’ve got that out of the way…” Mr. Tanaka moved on quickly, chambering another round. “Now it’s time to do what I came here for.” Confident that Yusuke was out of the fight, he shifted his aim towards his daughter.

Yuuka did not pay him much attention, still focused on her dad. “No! You’re hurt! The bad man hurt you!” She said, standing her ground.

“Please… run.” Her father coughed. “You don’t need to—”

He was cut off by another bang. As he had for Yusuke, Tanaka aimed for the girl’s chest. However, with no opportunities to practice, his aim was subpar, and on the smaller body of a nine-year-old girl, a shot to the chest can easily become a shot to the arm. However, ordinary nine-year-olds also do not have the same strength and will an adult has, and even a shot in the arm should at least be enough to immobilize them with pain.

Kazami Yuuka, however, was no ordinary nine-year-old.

The bullet pierced through her arm, its velocity enough to drive it all the way through, leaving a gaping hole where much of her triceps should be. The force spun her around, but she still kept both feet on the ground. Then, she slowly shifted her gaze from her father’s face to the intruder’s. “You hurt my daddy.” Despite her injury, she stepped forwards. “That’s not allowed.” With her other hand, she raised her parasol, still in its folded position.

“Tough, aren’t you?” Shocked, but trying to remain calm, Tanaka quickly chambered another shot and fired. However, his aim betrayed his inner panic, going way wide and hitting the umbrella rather than the girl. It bounced off.

Yuuka continued to walk forwards. As she closed the distance, she shifted her grip on the parasol so that the tip was aimed at the man’s heart. “You know what happens to people who hurt Daddy?”

“Get back you demon!” No longer able to hide his panic, Tanaka fired again, this time missing by a mile despite being at point blank range.

“—They get hurt.” Rather than use the parasol, however, Yuuka surprised him by hitting him with a firm kick to the gut. He went flying backwards, and his pistol was knocked out of his hand, landing right in front of Yusuke on the ground.

Tanaka quickly scrambled to get up, and saw that Yuuka was still approaching. “I said get back! You unholy—!” He raised his hand to shoot again, and found that he was disarmed. “What the hell--?”

“I’m going to make sure you can never hurt Daddy again.” The girl’s red eyes burned with fury as she walked ever closer, brandishing the parasol as a weapon. Her left arm was still badly injured, but that did not seem to hinder her.

“Get away from me!” Unable to take it anymore, Mr. Tanaka turned tail and ran for the door as fast as he could. When he reached it, however, he found his way blocked by something… green. At first he thought the girl must have beat him to the door; in a way, he was right. On closer inspection, what he saw was not hair—his way was blocked by a multitude of sunflowers whose already long and strong stalks had grown to massive proportions. He couldn’t even see outside, and any attempt to break through the barrier was futile.

“You’re not going anywhere. My friends are very tough.” He jumped; while he had been distracted by the barrier, Yuuka had used that time to close the distance between them and was now directly behind him. He threw a few punches in panic, but the girl didn’t even flinch. “I’m pretty tough too.”

“I’m not going down like this, you hellspawn!” In a last-ditch effort, he grabbed her by her injured arm and shoved his thumb into the wound, hoping at least to elicit a reaction.

Yuuka, still, did not show any sign of discomfort. She batted his arm with the parasol, forcing him to retract it. Then, while he was still recovering, kicked him in the gut again. This time, with no room to fly, he fell to the ground, where she kept her foot on top of him to hold him down. For extra measure, she willed some of the flowers in the door to wrap around his limbs, completely immobilizing the man. Wordlessly, she raised the parasol above her head and aimed the tip at his heart.

“Yuuka…” She froze when she heard her father’s voice. “Yuuka… stop…” She turned her head to look at him, having collapsed onto all fours and even then struggling to stay up. “Yuuka… Come here…” She obliged her father’s wish and stepped away from Mr. Tanaka, who was still immobilized on the floor. When she got to her father’s side, he tried to push himself upright with only moderate success. “Don’t do something… you might regret… remember, you are not a demon… you’re an… angel.” He could not talk for long without coughing out a worrying amount of blood. “You and I… are both flowers… growing in the same garden.” He lifted one hand off the floor and put it on her shoulder. “If I am a blooming flower… then I am prepared… to scatter… for _your_ sake.” With that, he removed his hand from her shoulder and used it to grab the gun that lay next to him. He pointed it at the immobilized Tanaka and fired the rest of the bullets. The man did not even have enough time to react before a shot went through his brain, severing his consciousness and killing him immediately. The deed done, Yusuke allowed himself to collapse onto the ground.

“…Yusuke!” By this time, Kaori had finally figured out that something very bad was happening at the front door, and arrived just in time to see her husband collapse onto the floor. “Yusuke! Answer me!”

With what little strength he had left, he turned his head to face his wife. “Kaori… You know…, after all that happened… I still love you… like the day we met…” He coughed once more. “Please… take care of her… you’re the only one…”

After a few long seconds of silence, it became clear that he would not finish his sentence. His labored breathing had ground to a halt, and his eyes lay lifeless.

“…Daddy?”

“Yusuke! Yusuke!” Kaori shook his body, trying to get a reaction—any reaction. Her husband, however, gave none.

That night, for the first time in their lives, mother and daughter cried together—for the one person that truly loved them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wen day is dark  
> alway rember
> 
> happy day


	3. Blooming

Despite a host of strange occurrences surrounding the case, the police were forced to accept the explanation that both fathers had killed each other in a dispute, and since both culprits were dead, no arrests were made, and the Kazami family went back to their daily life at home. A home that now seemed a lot emptier than before.

Before they could do that, however, Yuuka had to take a ride to the nearest hospital. After all, she _had_ just been shot in the arm, no matter how much she didn’t act like it. That was how she found herself laying on a bed in the emergency room with her left arm wrapped in bandages.

The doctor walked into the room, dressed for an operation. “Alright, let’s see what we have to deal with.” He looked at one of the assistants. “You make sure to clean the wound?” The assistant nodded. “Good. How’s the girl doing?”

“Remarkably. The little girl’s a trooper if I ever saw one. Hell, if she didn’t have that gaping hole in her arm I never would have guessed she was just shot.” The assistant replied while getting the doctor’s tools ready.

“That’s certainly remarkable…” The doctor shook his head as he finished preparing. “Speaking of this hole, let’s get a look at that wound.” The assistants obliged, removing the bandages that covered up the injury.

“Um…” the assistant gaped. “Is it just me… or does that not look like it did before?”

“Hmm…” The doctor carefully poked at the wound. “Tell me again, when did this happen?”

“About two hours ago.”

“Really? Because I’d say this wound has got to be at least a week old.” The wound, which used to go clean through her arm, now had healed significantly—much of the flesh had returned and it was starting to close up.

“That doesn’t make any sense! When she got in here, it was brand new!”

“Well, either you’re lying, or this girl somehow miraculously healed a bullet wound in the past hour. I’ll let you decide which is more likely.” The doctor said with sarcasm in his voice. “The real question is, then, why would someone wait that long to bring her to us? What sort of person would make a kid handle a wound like this for a week?”

“Actually, sir…” The assistant spoke up. “I don’t think you’re looking at the whole picture here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you remember that girl who came in earlier today? About the same age as this one?” The doctor nodded. “Well, when we asked how she got her injuries, her mom gave a peculiar description of the culprit. Remember that?”

“Of course!” The doctor said. “How could I forget? She said something about a little girl, red eyes, green hair, and I quote ‘a powerful demon beyond all compare.’ I must say, that’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever heard.”

“But if you take her word for it… have you seen anyone else that fits that description?” The assistant gestured towards the girl on the bed. “So, if that mother told the truth, than you have to wonder how she could have got in a fight like that if her arm was in this shape then. That means the only explanation is that she got this in the last few hours.”

“I’m sorry… I think I’d have an easier time believing a wounded person winning a fight than someone recovering from a bullet wound so quickly.”

“But what about that last part?” By now the two of them had completely forgotten any work they should have been doing and focused on solving this mystery. “I’ve heard the rumors—there’s this girl in that town that supposedly has the power to control life and death. I was skeptical at first, but if you think about it, it all starts to make sense!”

The doctor sighed. “I’m not into all that superstitious rumor-mongering. It just hurts everyone involved.” He turned back towards the center of the room. “Either way, we have a job to do, and standing around talking is not going to get it done.” He walked towards the bed. “Alright, now let’s take a look at this wound…”

He reached for the girl’s left arm before he noticed something—there was no wound. Frantically, he ran around to check the other arm to see if he just forgot where it was—nothing. He looked all over, checking several times to make sure this was the same patient, but there was nothing to be found.

“What the hell…”

* * *

Back home, a few weeks later, the house was still as solemn as it was immediately after that fateful night; its two tenants still had yet to get over the shock. Yuuka was playing in the garden, as one would ordinarily expect to find her, but her playing did not have the energy and radiance it once had. Instead, she sat quietly on the edge of the field, picking petals off flowers and making them regrow—only to pick them off again. Before long she sat in a large puddle of petals that was growing by the minute with no indication of stopping.

“Yuuka…” She heard a voice call out to her softly. However intent she was on collecting the largest pile of petals possible, this was not a voice that called her name very often, and especially not with the solemn gentleness she heard this time.

She looked over her shoulder and saw her mother standing there, wearing all black except for a pair of gardening gloves on her hands. In those hands, she carried what looked to be a small tree sapling. “Mommy?” Yuuka asked, unsure of what else she could say in this situation.

“I hate to interrupt your… whatever it is you’re doing, but…” Her mother paused before talking, swallowing. “I need to talk to you.”

“Talk to me?” Yuuka was still unsure how to react. Her mom hadn’t talked to her at all since the incident, and as far as she knew nothing else had happened, so what could she want to talk about? Judging by the gloves and sapling, maybe she wanted to start helping on the farm?

“Yes, there’s… somewhere I want to go…” her mother swallowed again, “…together.”

She looked up at her mother, wanting to say something, but when she saw that solemn, serious face, the words became lost in her throat. Together… that was not a word she heard often, especially not from her mom. No, she was not just here to help with gardening. Then… where _did_ she want to go?

“Just… just come with me.” Her mom turned around and beckoned her to follow. Not wanting to be left behind, Yuuka quickly stood up, brushed off her skirt, and fell in behind her. The two of them walked around to the front of the house and to the side of the road.

After a few minutes of walking uphill, Yuuka could no longer suppress the urge to ask: “Mommy… where are we going?”

Her mom hummed. “…You’ll see.” It wasn’t long after saying that that she suddenly stopped and gestured to the woods beside the road. “We’re here.” Uncomfortable with any more conversation, she said it as simply and bluntly as possible.

Yuuka turned to look where she was pointing. Hidden between the trees was a small stone staircase that led up a steep hill. Together they climbed these seemingly abandoned stairs with purpose, avoiding any cracks or missing steps without even looking. Once they reached the top, they arrived at the grounds of a small Shinto shrine. The grounds looked better kept than the stairs, but only marginally. In silence, they walked past the small main (and only) hall.

The shrine keeper was nowhere in sight—probably asleep—so the two of them continued on past the main hall towards the other edge of the clearing. They brushed past a few overgrown plants to arrive at what appeared to be a small gateway—a miniature _torii_ placed almost randomly in the forest behind the shrine. They stopped in front of it, exchanging a glance, wondering what the other was thinking. They both recognized this place, but that didn’t make either of them any more comfortable as they both stood in front of the gateway.

“We’re going here?” Yuuka asked, looking up at her mom.

“Yes… I’m sure you know this place.” She answered without turning to face her, staring straight forward at the gate. “No use wasting time, let’s get this over with.” Forcefully, she grabbed her daughter’s hand and dove through the gateway. As her body passed through, the air around them seemed to ripple, and if anyone were to be watching it would appear as if the two of them were vanishing into thin air.

As they arrived on the other side, they were greeted initially with an environment almost indistinguishably similar to the back of the shrine. However, rather than a full mountain forest standing in front of them, it was but a small grove, beyond which lay a world very much unlike the one they came from. 

Yuuka’s mother laughed as they continued through the grove. “Now that I look at it, it’s a wonder I didn’t figure it out sooner.”

Confused, Yuuka looked up at her. “What do you mean, mommy?”

“We aren’t actually behind the shrine, are we?” She asked rhetorically.

“What do you mean? It’s right there!” Yuuka turned around to point behind them.

“No, no… I mean, have you ever gone _around_ the gate to get here?”

“Of course not!”

Her mom laughed. “Well I have tried it before—it’s just a boring forest as far as the eye can see. Not anything like… this!” she gestured her arms out as they reached the end of the woods, opening up into a wide valley filled with all sorts of flowers from all seasons. “You see, this place is something special.”

“Of course it is!” Yuuka declared proudly. “It’s daddy’s _Land of Fantasies_!” 

“And it’s a whole other world—to think Yusuke could make something like this… it explains a lot…” She shot a glance at her daughter, “but it raises so many more questions…”

“Questions?” She asked, although her mom was not paying attention to her.

“There’s so much I didn’t know… so much I never knew I didn’t know…” She held the sapling (she still had) with both hands and looked to the sky. “Kazami Yusuke… who were you? _what_ were you?”

“He was my daddy!”

“—You were her father, yes. You were also my husband.” Tears began forming in her eyes as she leaned over, using the sapling as support. “I loved you—but what does that mean? How could I love someone I know nothing about?” Eventually, her emotions built up beyond the breaking point, and the dam burst. “Why? Why, Yusuke!? Why any of this!? Why did you have to go when you have so much left to explain?” She let go of the sapling and collapsed to the ground. “Who are you!? Who is _she_? What am I supposed to do?”

Yuuka moved up to comfort her mom, reaching to place a hand on her shoulder. “Mommy…” She tried to say.

“Don’t touch me!” She jerked away, shoving her daughter’s hand away. 

_‘Mommy is sad... how do I make her feel better?’_ Yuuka thought to herself. ‘ _Oh! I know!’_ She reached out again, but instead of reaching for her mother, she reached for the sapling. She lifted it upright and placed its roots on the ground. Then, as she had done for countless small flowers before, she focused her power into the small tree. It was a flowering plant, after all, so her powers should work—and they did. Right before her eyes, the tree’s roots spread into the ground as its trunk grew at an alarming rate. Growth that usually took years happened over the course of seconds as branches spread out from the top in all directions. When those branches grew long enough, they began to bud, and those buds bloomed into full flowers.

In less than a minute, the tree had gone from a simple sapling one could hold in their hand to a fully-grown cherry tree, its pink blossoms blooming more beautifully than anything in the already breathtaking valley below.

“Mommy, look! Isn’t it pretty?” Yuuka smiled.

Her mom hadn’t actually noticed the growing tree until now, when she looked up and found herself unable for speak in the majesty of the blooming tree. “It’s… It’s… It’s…”

Yuuka deployed her parasol and stood there smiling, with the refined grace of a lady despite her age while her mother gaped. 

“You… What did you do?” her mom asked, with a little more bite in her voice than Yuuka expected.

“I made it pretty, didn’t I?”

“Don’t you know what that tree was for? I was going to plant it in _your_ father’s memory! It was supposed to be something that would last for decades! You…you…!”

“I made it beautiful! Daddy wouldn’t want to be a weak little tree, he’s big and strong, like this one here!” She gestured to the tree with her opened parasol.

“No, you don’t get it!” Her mom shouted. “The bigger it is, the sooner it will die—even trees can only live so long!”

“Nuh-uh!” Yuuka shook her head. “This one will always be big and strong!”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Because I’ll take good care of it! Daddy was so nice to me, so I’ll be nice to him back!”

* * *

“Good morning everyone! Looking good today, aren’t you? …Oh, you look down, what’s wrong? … I see. Here, let me fix that for you. …There. Much better.” Years later, a twelve-year-old Yuuka tended to the flowers in her family’s field.

Or rather, her field. Her mother was not very enthusiastic about any part of the job, and Yuuka was more than happy to take care of the flowers by herself. Any minute that she wasn’t at school or sleeping, she could be found in this field, talking to, playing with, and of course growing the various kinds of flowers. On a hot summer day like this, she appeared not as a demon, but as a gardener, dedicated to her craft.

“Hello~?” Suddenly she heard a voice from the other side of the property. Although she didn’t know whose voice it was, Yuuka’s face lit up. Carefully, she dropped her tools and ran towards the front of the house. When she got out front, she saw a woman standing along the roadside in front of a small table. Leaving aside the woman for now, atop the table sat an arrangement of assorted flowers and a small (empty) plastic box. In front of the table was a paper sign with the words ‘Yuuka’s Pretty Flowers’ written in large characters. A smaller sign on top of the table read ‘I’m in the garden—just call!’

“Hello!” Yuuka said cheerfully as she ran behind the table. She picked the smaller sign off the table, placing it on the ground, and looked her visitor in the eye.

“Aren’t you a cute one?” The woman said, somewhat taking her by surprise.

“Really? You don’t’ think I look… weird?” Yuuka fidgeted a bit, unsure how to react to a compliment from a stranger.

“Really, I mean it.” She reached out a hand, patting Yuuka on the head and ruffling her hair. “Anyway,” She brought her hand back and assumed a more conservative pose. “I see you’ve got quite the business set up here.”

“Well… you say that… but I haven’t gotten any customers yet.” She shyly admitted. “I guess everyone _does_ hate me…”

“Well I don’t know anything about this town, so I don’t know about that…” The woman hummed. 

“You’re not from here?” Yuuka asked. “What are you doing all the way out here, then?”

The woman laughed a little. “I guess you could say I’m here for sightseeing.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Regardless, I can definitely solve your first problem.”

“That means…”

“You’ve got a lovely bunch of flowers here—it would be a shame to see them go to waste.” The woman gestured to the assortment that covered the table. “Why don’t you start by telling me about some of them?”

Yuuka gratefully obliged her request; starting from the sunflowers and continuing on down, she told the story of each individual flower laid out on the table. For each one, she spoke lovingly and precisely: she knew the day each one was planted, their likes and dislikes, and everything else a loving mother would be expected to know about their children. She even paused at several instances to talk to the flowers directly. While she was talking, the woman stood there silently, absorbing the information and watching as the girl in front of her showered all measures of love onto these flowers.

When Yuuka was done, the woman smiled approvingly. “You certainly love these flowers, don’t you?”

“Of course!” She replied. “They’re my babies!”

“If you love them so much, then why are you selling them?” The woman asked, causing Yuuka to stop in her tracks.

After a few seconds of thought, however, the smile returned to Yuuka’s face. “Because I know they will be able to find a good home with someone to care for them.”

The woman was not satisfied with her answer. “That’s fine and all, but couldn’t you do that by yourself? Why do you want to _sell_ them?”

“Well…” her cheerful disposition faltered. “Ever since my dad died… my mom and I haven’t had enough money to buy food… I’ve tried growing some, but I’m only good with flowers.” She forced a little bit of a smile. “So I thought I could get some money while also finding a home for my little babies!”

“That’s quite the sad story, huh?” The woman thought to herself for a second. “Good thing you have me here to help!” She pointed at one of the flowers on the table—a small purple iris. “I’ll have that one, then.”

“Just the iris?” Yuuka asked. She seemed somewhat disappointed when the woman nodded. “Alright, then that will be…”

“Oh, no need to tell me the price.” The woman laughed. “I believe this will be more than enough.” Seemingly out of nowhere, she produced a large wad of cash and dropped it onto the table. While Yuuka stood still, mouth agape in shock, the woman picked up the iris. “Oh, and you might want to try growing fruits. Most fruit trees are flowering plants, after all.”

Before she could react, the woman was already gone, leaving Yuuka alone with her table and a massive stack of cash. “…Thank… you…?”


	4. Scattering

While that mysterious woman’s intervention might have helped to fix much of the Kazami family’s food problems for a while, many more still lingered. Three years later, Yuuka found herself back in the “Land of Fantasies,” alone this time, to visit her father’s tree. By then, many things had changed: she was in high school now, and thanks to that money running out faster than expected, she was busier than ever finding buyers for her flowers. Still, the tree looked just as it had the day it was planted in her father’s memory—with flowers blooming perpetually from its branches, looking over the great valley below.

As always, Yuuka arrived with her parasol slung over her shoulder. She waded through the overgrowth until arriving directly underneath the tree. “Good afternoon Daddy.” She lifted her head and began talking to the tree. When, as always, she received no response, she continued. “How have you been doing… wherever you’ve gone? I see your tree is as healthy as ever, that’s good. I don’t even have to use my power anymore… it just keeps blooming, just like you, huh?” She placed her hand on the tree’s trunk. “But wasn’t it you that taught me no flower blooms forever? Given time, all blossoms will scatter in the wind? Why, then, do you continue to bloom? Is it not unnatural?”

Yuuka stopped at that last word. “Unnatural, huh?” She pulled her hand back from the tree and had it join the other in keeping the parasol on her shoulder. “I can’t count how many times that word has been used to describe me. They say I’m some sort of demon, an affront against heaven. I guess they’re right, aren’t they? After all, even if it’s just flowers, I can bring the dead back to life.” She stepped back a bit. “Too bad I couldn’t do that for you.”

Yuuka took her attention away from the tree and looked down at the valley below. “I guess this is all mine now, huh? Mom never comes here after all. Imagine what my classmates would say if they knew I had my own pocket realm behind the shrine.” She laughed dryly. “I guess they’d still all hate me, wouldn’t they? ‘Just more proof that Kazami kid’s a demon.’ – Is what they’d say. As if they needed more proof.” 

She folded the parasol and sat down in the shade of the tree. “You know?” She turned to address the tree. “You were the only human who ever cared for me. Everyone at school hates me, and even mom only pretends to tolerate me. I know she’s just like the rest of them…” She hummed in thought for a second. “I guess there was that one woman once… I wonder what happened to her?”

Suddenly, she felt a chill run down her back, as if the temperature had dropped ten degrees in an instant. “You mean me~?” Yuuka whipped back around to find that, standing in front of her…

…was nothing. “I could have sworn I heard something… I guess I really am going insane…”

* * *

_ ‘splash, splash’ _

Yuuka was mildly amused as each of her footsteps was met with a splash as the firm ground turned to mud. Few other people were outside—even fewer than usual. Everyone seemed to be in a rush to get out of the rain. For a sixteen-year-old Yuuka, it was an opportunity to put her parasol to its secondary duty—as a normal umbrella.  _ ‘It’s coming down pretty hard, isn’t it?’ _ She thought as she calmly walked along the roadside. ‘ _ I hope the flowers are okay…’ _

After a few minutes, she turned off the road and walked up the steps to her home. A cursory glance told her the garden seemed to be doing fine, so she continued on, turning the doorknob and stepping in. “I’m home!” she shouted into the house, announcing her presence as per Japanese tradition.

“Welcome back.” Similarly bound by tradition, her mother responded to her call. On an ordinary day, this call-and-answer was the limit of the pair’s interactions. Once they had fulfilled their societal obligations, each usually felt they have done their duty as a daughter/mother, and were free to ignore the other for the rest of the day.

Once she was completely inside and the door had shut behind her, Yuuka folded up her parasol and set it aside next to the door. She then made her way down the hallway towards her room. However, she stopped when she noticed something standing in her way that wasn’t usually there.

“How was school?”

Clearly today was not an ordinary day. She looked up to see her mother standing in front of her.  _ ‘What is she doing? Why does she want to talk to me? … I can tell that smile is fake. I think it would be best to just ignore her.’ _ Yuuka thought as she decided to continue walking.

“Oh, don’t ignore me like that!” Her mother called after her, running to catch up. “You still having problems?”

“My grades are just fine—I am first in my class.” Yuuka answered coldly. “Why are you suddenly concerned about that?”

“No, no, I’m not worried about your grades—I’m sure they’re great.” Her mother still had that look of feigned interest on her face. “I mean—are you still being bullied by the other kids at school?”

Yuuka dismissed this ‘concern’ with a click of her tongue. “The others are not of any concern to me.” She answered.  _ ‘After all,’ _ She thought,  _ ‘they’ve all learned to stay away from me a long time ago… and I thought you had too.’ _

“Well anyways, I’ve got a great idea!” Her mother said with fake enthusiasm. “How about we just ditch this place? Just pack up and move to the big city?” She slung an arm around Yuuka. “Wouldn’t it be great to get out of this dump? Go to a place where everyone you meet—you’ll never have to see  _ again _ ? I’m telling you, I grew up in Tokyo, and you’d have been better off if you did too!”

“And how exactly do you plan to do this?” Yuuka, for the first time in the conversation, turned to face her mother. “The city isn’t cheap.”

“Well…” Her mother faltered for a bit. “I’ve already made the arrangements. But don’t worry! All the checks cleared!”

“And where…” Yuuka pressed. “Did you get the money?”

“By selling this house, of course!”

“…What?”

“Oh yeah,” her mom continued. “You’d be surprised how high the demand is for country houses these days.”

“You did what!?” Yuuka’s body shook, as did her voice.

Her mother wasn’t blind; she could sense the anger behind her daughter’s red eyes. Still, she tried to spin the situation in a positive light. “It’ll be fine! I got us a great apartment in Saitama—”

Yuuka interrupted her by grabbing her by the collar. “You’re telling me you sold this house—field included—all so you could buy some concrete box in Tokyo… and it’s not even  _ in _ Tokyo?”

“Hey, Saitama is a fine place—”

“I worked day and night in that field for years, trying to make enough money so  _ you _ would have food to eat! You know how hard it’s been for me to sell my flowers, but I did, so  _ you _ could live! And you call yourself a mother when you’ve just been mooching off of your  _ teenage daughter _ ! And then…! And then…!” She got right in her mother’s face. “And then you just tell me to throw it all away because you want to live some manmade concrete hole? Tearing me away from the field I and my father worked so hard to build? Taking me away from my precious flowers?” Yuuka took a deep breath before continuing. “Tell me—how do you expect to mooch off of me when you’re in a concrete jungle? Do you expect me to just grow flowers in the street? I could do that, you know? There wouldn’t be much street left.”

“H- Hold on a second…” Her mother tried to pry Yuuka’s hands from her collar.

“Answer me! Why do you think you can do this!?”

Her mother stepped back a bit, prompting Yuuka to release her grip on her. She took her own deep breath, and snapped. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“What, exactly, don’t I get?”

“You think you’re the only one who’s suffering? I moved out here because I thought it would be a nice retreat where Yusuke and I could settle down, build a family, and enjoy the country air. Next thing I know, I’m the most hated person in town, my husband is dead, and I’ve got to spend the rest of my life in this hole with a demon that calls itself my daughter!” Yuuka’s mother said. Now she was walking towards her, pointing a finger at her daughter’s chest. “You want to know why I want to leave so bad? It’s because the city is the only place where I can live in peace. Unlike this damn farm town, I can find some menial job that doesn’t involve agriculture, and I don’t have to worry about becoming the pariah of the town because anyone who sees me with you—I’ll never have to see again! Oh, and  _ I  _ bought this house in the first place; I saved up for years to buy this place. My name’s on the deed—yours isn’t. I can do whatever I want with this place.”

“Is that so?”

“You’re free to go off into the woods and scare hapless villagers for the rest of your life for all I care, but if you’re staying with me, then the moving truck comes tomorrow.”

Rather than answer her, Yuuka turned and stormed off, grabbing her parasol as she exited through the front door.

* * *

Yuuka marched on through the continuing rainstorm, not even bothering to open her umbrella. She would be worried about catching a cold, but she was fuming enough that her anger kept her warm all the way to her destination.

When she got there, the rain stopped. This was natural, as in its current state, the Land of Fantasies answered to her desires… and she had had enough of that damned rain.

“That woman!” She shouted to the heavens as she neared her father’s tree. “Who does she think I am? All that work, everything I’ve done, and she just tosses it away like yesterday’s garbage!”

“My, you don’t seem happy.”

Yuuka jumped at the sound of another voice. “Who’s there!? Show yourself!” She demanded as she twirled around to locate its source.

“Now, now, no need to be violent, I’m right here.” Yuuka stopped spinning when she saw a woman standing where she herself had been mere seconds ago. “It seems something is troubling you.”

Yuuka was still startled, and she demanded answers. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“What a rude thing to say to your elder! You should—” She was interrupted by Yuuka grabbing her shirt.

“Tell me who you are. Right. Now.” She made sure to appear as threatening as possible, focusing her red eyes so they appeared to stare right into the woman’s soul.

The woman, however, seemed unfazed by her implicit threats. “Oh, I’m wounded that you don’t remember me…” The woman produced a purple iris flower… seemingly out of thin air. “After all the work I put into keeping this little one healthy like you told me…”

“You…” recognition flashed into Yuuka’s eyes. “You’re that…”

“Yes, but that isn’t the question, now is it?” The woman smiled knowingly.

“Of course not! How are you able to get into here? Who exactly, no,  _ what _ are you?”

The woman laughed. “I think a better question would be… who are  _ you _ ?”

“Who am I?” Yuuka repeated. “What kind of question is that? I know who I am; I am Kazami Yuuka.”

“Indeed, Kazami Yuuka: sixteen, daughter of Kazami Yusuke and Kaori, plant lover…” The unknown woman demonstrated an unnerving level of knowledge with her list, before finishing it off with: “…and my fellow  _ youkai _ .”

“…Youkai?” Yuuka laughed. “Is that what I am?”

“Yes, it is… It’s been a long time since I’ve met a new youkai, I thought we were a dying breed.”

“And what, exactly, does it mean to be a… youkai, as you say?” Judging by her tone of voice, it seemed Yuuka was taking this news pretty well; however, there was the distinct impression that somewhere within her,  _ something _ had snapped.

“Most of us eat people, for one. I guess most of us can fly as well…” The woman casually explained. “But really, there are so many kinds it’s hard to give a single definition. It’s more of a general term these days.”

“And what kind would you suppose I am?”

“Hmm…” The woman seemed unsure how to respond. “I guess judging by your… affinities alone, I would have to say you’re some sort of flower-demon. Enough people developed fears and stories related to flowers that those fears eventually materialize into a youkai, would be my guess, but…”

“But I was born like a normal human, wasn’t I?” Yuuka finished her sentence. “The reason people are scared of my field is because I’m there, not the other way around.”

“It’s not unheard of for normal humans to turn into youkai. Such beings are based on belief, after all. If enough people believe you’re a demon… then you become one.” The woman explained. “But it seems that’s not quite the case either, isn’t it?”

“Just how much do you know about me?” Yuuka tried to get to the heart of the matter.

“I’ve done my research,” the woman answered cryptically. “Regardless, how long have you had this power?”

“Since I was born.” She answered. “Does that not—”

“…exclude the possibility you were born human? Perhaps.” The woman now finished  _ her _ sentence. “But I’m sure you’ve noticed your power is greater now than it was previously.”

“Then how did I—”

“…That’s for you to find out. If I had to guess, it has something to do with your father. I’ve never met him, but he seems like quite the man.” The woman hummed. “As for why you have continued to grow as a human, perhaps it’s because you have yet to accept for yourself that you’re not.”

“And if I were to accept that I am a… youkai?”

“Who knows? With the power you have already… most youkai don’t even get that powerful until well into their first century—and you’re only _sixteen_ _years old_! I bet you could be one of the strongest beings in existence given enough time.”

Yuuka looked to the sky and laughed. “ _ Most powerful _ ? And here I was thinking I would never amount to anything.” She looked back towards the woman. “You have my thanks, miss…” The woman, of course, wasn’t there anymore. “Why does she keep doing that? She never even answered my question!”

Still, although the woman’s departure was abrupt, leaving a multitude of questions, Yuuka felt oddly satisfied with the engagement. Finally, she had an answer to the questions that really mattered.

“Youkai, huh?” She turned to give one last look at the tree. “I guess you were wrong, Daddy. I  _ am _ a demon.” She then turned to leave, dragging her parasol on the ground as she stepped towards the exit. Behind her, a handful of petals dropped off of the cherry tree, scattering in the wind.

* * *

“Come on in, gentlemen! I’m glad you could make it!” Yuuka’s mother stood at the doorway, holding it open for two reasonably fit-looking men wearing uniforms.

“Pleased to meet you, Ms. Kazami.” One of the men replied. “Whoever is buying this house must be very lucky, this place is beautiful.”

“Tell me about it,” The other chimed in. “I’ve never seen so many flowers in my life.”

“Heh heh… Thank you,” she laughed awkwardly, knowing exactly where those flowers came from. “Anyways… I trust you know what I want you to do today?”

“Yes, you’re doing a full move, correct? Everything goes?”

“That is correct.” She nodded.

“Then if you don’t mind…” The men stepped into the house. “We’ll get started right away.”

As they continued down the hall, Yuuka’s mother stayed in the front of the house. “Finally, I can get out of this place…” She let out a relieved sigh. “Why didn’t I think of this earlier? From today onwards, I can live like a normal person again.”

“Talking to yourself? That’s unusual.” She jumped as she heard a voice coming down the hallway. She looked and saw it was her daughter, dressed as usual, but rather than her trademark parasol, held an apple in each hand.

“Y- Yuuka! You startled me!” Her mother tried to regain her composure. “When did you come back? I was sure you had run away…”

“It warms my heart to see that you seem more worried to discover that I  _ haven’t  _ run away than if I had.”

“What? N-no! I just…!” She stammered.

“I don’t mind… Besides, I just went on a walk to clear my head. I came back just after you went to sleep.” Yuuka answered, a sort of unnerving smile on her face.

“Oh… that’s g-good.” Her mother easily noticed the ‘unnerving’ part.

“Yes… and that was the moving company just now, wasn’t it?” Yuuka elicited a nod from her mother, so she continued. “I see, you weren’t kidding about that.”

“You’re still mad, aren’t you?”

“No, Not at all!” Yuuka said, although she wasn’t convinced. “In fact, I wanted to make it up to you.” She extended one of her hands towards her mother.

Her mother looked at the hand and the apple held in it. “…You want me to eat it?”

“Of course!” Yuuka still smiled. “I thought you’d appreciate a little breakfast.”

Her mother wanted to refuse—something, no, everything about this seemed fishy. From the timing to the strange smile her daughter wore, it made her want to get away as fast as possible. However, the look she was getting told her there was no refusing this offer, so she hesitantly reached over to grab the apple.

Yuuka saw how long it was taking her to do such a simple task as eating an apple. “Don’t worry, there’s nothing bad about that apple. It’s only the best.” She tried to soothe her mother’s fears. To prove a point, she lifted the other apple to her mouth and took a bite, looking straight at her mother the whole time. “Mmm, tasty.”

Her mother finally relented under her daughter’s gaze and bit into the apple. As promised, it was delicious. Had she not been so uneasy, she would have probably continued and inhaled the whole thing.

“…What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you don’t like it.”

…However, it appears her daughter won’t leave until she does. “Uh… no, it’s… good.” She said, taking another bite to show her ‘enjoyment.’

This standoff continued, her mother taking tentative bites until she had eaten all the way to the core of the apple.

“Alright…” she said, confident that she had pleased her daughter. She held the apple core by the stem. “Now I’m just going to throw this out…”

She stopped when she saw Yuuka wagging her finger. “No, no, that would be wasteful! You know apple cores are edible, right?”

“You want me to…”

“Go on…”

“But…”

“I assure you, it’s perfectly safe.”

Despite the reassurances that were doing little reassuring, her mother was not too keen on eating the core. “I’m not sure about…”

Yuuka sighed audibly, although she still kept that unnerving smile on, making it difficult for her mom to tell what that sigh meant. “After I came all this way to show how much I cared, you’re still doubting your own daughter?” Yuuka gestured accusingly. “You know what,  _ mom _ , I’ll give you two truths and a lie: you can eat apple cores; I would never do anything to hurt you; and I can fly.”

Begrudgingly, her mother knew she had no choice, so she bit into the apple’s core. It was tough and stringy, and not at all tasty. As she chewed, she felt yet another texture in her mouth. It seemed to be stuck between her teeth, so she couldn’t just spit it out. Instead, she managed to swallow all but that intruding object before reaching for it with her hand. “Oh, I got a seed stuck in my mouth…”

“…Perfect.”

She was unable to remove the seed before a force slammed into her, knocking her to the ground and swatting her hand away from her face. She looked up in shock to see Yuuka on top of her, with an even more terrifying smile and eyes that looked more like pools of blood than they did any eyes she’d seen. When she tried to ask what the girl was doing, she found her mouth unable to move, held shut by Yuuka’s left hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry, you didn’t know?” Yuuka asked in a tone of voice that certainly did not fit the situation. “Turns out I can fly.”

Her mother’s eyes filled with fear as Yuuka went to work, applying her power to her left hand. That power resonated with the apple seed still in her mother’s mouth. While apple trees are most known for the fruit they bear, when spring comes, just like any other deciduous trees, their branches are filled with something else—flowers. That puts the apple tree squarely under Yuuka’s domain, so when she fills a seed with her power—it germinates.

The seed quickly sprouted, and kept growing at an alarming rate. If any part of this could be said to be fortunate for her mother, it was that the seed started so close to her brain she only had to bear a few short seconds of the pain before the darkness took her. Just because the host was dead, however, did not stop the roots from expanding, making their way through the inside and outside of the body, disfiguring it beyond recognition. The roots eventually made their way to the floor, taking hold while the tree’s trunk began to form upwards.

After a while, Yuuka stopped feeding power, got up, and admired her handiwork. The entryway to the house was now dominated by an apple tree that pierced the ceiling, covered in spring flowers, just for good measure. “My, how beautiful you’ve become!” Her wicked smile of the past minute had faded, and she once again adopted a much softer, although equally unnerving smile. 

_ Thump _

She heard a crash, and turned her head to find the two moving company men had returned from the hallway. “Oh, gentlemen; nice to make your acquaintance.” She turned her whole body to face them and stepped forwards. “Why the long faces? See something you didn’t like?” the two men stood paralyzed on either side of a couch they had presumably just dropped. Their faces were ones of slack-jawed terror, staring blankly as Yuuka advanced. Their brains were undoubtedly telling them to run, but their legs refused. Still, rather than wait and give them the opportunity to bolt, Yuuka closed the distance in a second, pushing both to the ground. “Now I can’t have you running on me, can I?”

“P-please! Don’t kill us! We didn’t do anything!” the man on the right found the courage to plead for his life, whatever he expected that would accomplish.

“Oh, you did something alright. You were trying to take me away from my flowers. You and that…  _ woman _ over there.” Once again, she grinned fiendishly. “Well there’s two of you, so that works perfectly.” She laughed when she saw the men somehow become  _ more _ afraid. Without further explanation, she took the second apple that was still in her right hand and forced it into the jaw of the man who had just pleaded for his life. Never mind that she had to break a few bones to get the practically whole apple to fit in his closed mouth, that simply added to his pain, and in turn, her pleasure.

She kept the other man pinned down with her left hand while she summarily gave his friend the same treatment she had just given her mother. “No! Stop it! Please, not him! He has a wife, take me instead if you must!”

This time, she didn’t wait quite as long to cut off the power, she knew by the time the roots dug into the floor that the man was long dead. “Sorry, but no-can-do. That man’s quite dead already—well, in the human sense at least. As a tree, he seems to be doing just fine, don’t you think?” Yuuka laughed. “Anyways…” She brought both of her hands to his neck. He thought it was over for him, but to his surprise, he found himself lifted off the ground and placed firmly on his feet. “… What are you doing, standing there like a deer in headlights?” She asked, almost impatiently, as he did not move.

“W- wha--!?”

“You’re free to go, sir.” Yuuka stepped to the side to gesture towards the door.

“Y- you’re just— _ letting me go _ ?”

“Did I not just say that? I may be different than humans, but I’m sure you have  _ ears, _ right?”

The man still could not understand this… thing that stood before him. One second she murders his co-worker and best friend with some ungodly power, and then she just tells him to beat it? “You…! I’m going to tell everything, you know? You won’t get away with these crimes, you demon!”

“Yes!” Yuuka shouted, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “Go out there, and tell them! Tell your friends! Tell the police! Tell his family! Tell the world about the demon that is Kazami Yuuka!” She laughed; it was a laugh that filled the house—not with warmth like her father’s laugh, but rather with fear. “Let them know me! Let them fear me! If there is anyone who thinks they can best my strength, let them come!”

“Kazami Yuuka…” The man repeated under his breath. “I won’t forget it!”

“ _ Watch the wind, and know the faint fragrance it brings! _ As long as my name remains in the mouths of frightened humans, I will live eternal!” She said cryptically, with a poetic line built from her name. “Oh, and go tell this ‘buyer’ of yours that this house … is not for sale!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all those who have been reading this far. This marks the end of the first "book" of the series. I hope to see you soon for "book 2."

**Author's Note:**

> It has been years, but I've finally decided to transfer this story over to AO3. I've always been proud of this one, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as my friends over on FF did.
> 
> Thanks to the structure of ao3's website, I will be dividing each part into chapters and posting them individually as a series. Look forwards to seeing more from me soon!
> 
> Also, the notes section of this work on FF included a long list of the various works I referenced in making this. I thought it was too long, so I will be doing without that here. Leave a comment if you want me to expand on those again.


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